Beach landing mat



1959 A. B. WILSON ETAL 2,912,910

BEACH LANDING MAT Filed Aug. 5, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l CZZZen/li wais jZZLfZI/LSfiQZQKQZSe 3861 37}? Colemam Nov. 17, 1959 A. B. WILSON ETAL 2,912,910

BEACH LANDING MAT Filed Aug. 5, 195s 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 JIIIIHJEJHE ll 1H HUM l alln/lill/L'lfiow, MaSDaZe/ ezber fieai'arficblemam,

Nov. 17, 1959 A B.w" soN ETAL 2,912,910 BEACH LANDING MAT Filed Aug. 5, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Qlienfi ZZ/daan, fiafadflalefleaex fieaibrf? Coleman,

} fnuerfira- I United States Patent BEACH LANDING MAT Allen B. Wilson, Chicago, Rufus Dale Keiser, Oak Park, and Bestor P. Coleman, Willow Springs, 11]., assignors to Acme Steel Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application August 1953, Serial No. 372,579

Claims. (Cl. 94-13) This invention relates to a beach landing mat intended primarily for use as an emergency roadway for troops and mobile equipment being evacuated from a landing barge or other floating craft in military operations.

For a long time the practice of landing troops and vehicles from floating craft has presented a difficult problem because of the absence of any method or means for quickly providing any structure capable of use as a roadway for supporting heavy loads. As a result, it has not been possible to effect such landing operations with the desired speed and safety to personnel and equipment.

The principal object of the present invention is to 7 provide an inexpensive, durable structure which may be spread over the earth of the landing beach to serve effectively as a roadway for supporting heavy loads, even though the terrain be sandy, muddy or highly irregular in contour. A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible cellular landing mat which may occupy a relatively small space during shipment and which may be quickly unfolded and spread over the beach to provide a substantial landing area when the destination is reached. Another object of the invention is to provide a landing mat in the form of a cellular metallic structure adapted to penetrate the earth to prevent lateral flow of the earth at its surface, whereby the load is carried directly by the earth independently of the structural load sustaining strength of the metal structure which acts as a simulated crust at the earth's surface and prevents the formation of ruts and the like. Still another object of the invention is to provide a metal landing mat which may be readily assembled and disassembled and which may be easily folded into small space for transport. Other objects relate to various features of construction and arrangement which will appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment of the invention and modifications of portions thereof are illustrated. In the drawings,

-Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a typical boat landing scene with the landing mat of the present invention arranged on the beach in operative relationship to the vessel and illustrating the use of the landing mat for'discharging troops and vehicles from the vessel;

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a portion of a landing mat constructed according to the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged top plan view of a portion of the mat illustrated in Fig. 2;

' Fig. 4 shows a side elevation of one of the longitudinal members of the mat illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 5 shows a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 shows a top plan view of a mat constructed "ice tudinal movement of the longitudinal members of the mat with a corresponding angular movement of the transverse members;

Fig. 7 shows a top plan view of a portion of a mat constructed according to the present invention and illustrating a modified connection of the transverse members with longitudinal members whereby the folding of the mat may be effected by longitudinal movement of alternate longitudinal members in opposite directions;

Fig. 8 shows a top plan view of a mat constructed according to the present invention Where the transverse members are so arranged that the mat is collapsed by moving alternate longitudinal members of the mat in opposite directions longitudinally thereof during the, folding operation so that a shorter space is occupied by the folded mat as compared with the arrangement shown, in Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 shows a perspective view of one of the transverse members of the mat;

Fig. 10 shows a vertical section through one of the longitudinal members of the mat, illustrating one method of moving a transverse member into interlocking engagement therewith;

Fig. 11 shows a sectional view similar to that of Fig. 10 illustrating the relative positions of the parts after the interlocking connection between the longitudinal member and the transverse member has been completed;

Fig. 12 is a sectional view similar to that of Fig. 11 showinga modified form of constructionin which the longer tongues of the longitudinal members have a transverse curvature imparted thereto; and

Fig. 13 shows a plan view of the end of one of the longer tongues shown in Fig. 12, the view being taken on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12. p

In Figurel of the drawings, there is shown a beach landing scene where a troop ship 15 is drawn up on a beach 16 where it is held by a hawser 17 and cables 18. The end doors 19 of the ship are open for the discharge of troops and vehicles onto landing mats 20 of the present invention which are spread out over the beach 16 to form a temporary roadway. The individual mats 20 are abutted together along their edges and at their ends to form a continuous roadway of substantial width and of the desired length.

Each landing mat 20 is made up of a plurality of par- 7 allel longitudinal members 21 and a plurality of parallel 'lapsed or folded for shipment by efiecting relative longitransverse members 22. All of the members 21 and 22 are preferably formed of relatively thin sheet metal and the transverse members 22 are staggered with respect. to each other in adjacent rows, thus providing a plurality of cells 23 into which the earth of the beach 16 is adapted to enter. The cellular structure thus formed is of willcient depth to prevent the lateral flow of the earth at the surface so that the load of the troops and vehicles passing over the mat is sustained primary by the earth which is trapped by the cells 23, whereby a roadway of substan tial load carrying capacity is provided independently of the structural strength of the metal strips 21 and 22 which may be made of such thin material that they would be inadequate to support the load by virtue of their own structural strength. The depth of the metal strips 21 and 22 and the areas ofthe pockets or cells 23 may be varied to a considerable extent depending upon the character of the soil upon which the mat is laid. For illustration, a satisfactory mat intended for landing purposes on a sandy beach may have cells 23 which are three inches square while the metal strips 21 and 22 are two and one-half inches deep.

For convenience in assembly and disassembly and to permit units of the mats to be collapsed into small space for purposesof shipment, the transverse members 22 are pivotally connected to the longitudinal members 21 by interlocking connections comprising hooks 22a which are formed in pairs on the ends of the transverse members 22 and which are adapted to enter apertures 21a which are formed in the longitudinal members 21, the ends of the transverse members 22 on opposite sides of the hooks 22a thereon providing shoulders for limiting the passage of the hooks through the apertures. According to the preferred practice, the hooks 22a on one end of a transverse member 22 are curled in one direction while the hooks 22a at the opposite end of the same member are curled in the opposite direction. A series of tongues 21!) and 210 are formed in each member 21 at opposite sides of each aperture 21a and these tongues are deflected from the plane of the member 21 by which they are carried so that the tongues 21b are inclined away from the plane of the member 21 in one direction while the tongues 210 are inclined away from that plane in the opposite direction. The tongues 21b are substantially longer than the tongues 210. In the embodiment illustrated, two spaced hooks 22a are formed on each end of each transverse. member 22 and the hooks are substantially semicylindrical in form as illustrated in Figs. and 11.

To facilitate the assembly of the members 22 in interlocking engagement with the members 21, the tongues 21b on one side of each member 21 are preferably deflected away from the plane of the member 21 to a greater extent than the deflection of the tongues 21c, thus providing a suflicient gap to permit the insertion of the hooks 220! between the tongues 21!) and 210, as illustrated in Fig. 10. After the tongues have been inserted and the transverse member 22 has been moved to a position at right angles to the connected member 21, the tongues 2111 may be bent inwardly toward the plane of the member 21 until they occupy positions such as that illustrated in Fig. 11 where the angle of deflection of the tongues 21b is substantially the same as the angle of deflection of the tongues 210. The transverse member 22 is then held against rotation in one direction with respect to the connected member 21 by the three points of contact which exist between the member 22 and its hook 22a with the tongues 21b and 210. The member 21 is, however, free to have pivotal movement in the opposite direction for the purpose of collapsing or folding the mat so that it will occupy a minimum of pace during the transport. With the tongues 21b bent sufliciently inward toward the plane of the member 21, the hooks 22a are prevented from disengaging the apertures 21a, whereby the members 21 and 22 are maintained in assembled relationship even though they are capable of relative rotation.

With the members 21 and 22 connected together as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the mat may be collapsed by eflecting a relative longitudinal movement of the metal strips 21 until they assume the folded condition shown in Fig. 6. During this operation, all of the longitudinal members 21 have relative longitudinal movement in the same direction and all of the transverse members 22 have the same kind of pivotal movement with respect to longitudinal members 21 to which they are connected. This arises from the fact that the hooks 22a on each end of each member 22 are directed oppositely to the hooks on the corresponding end of the next adjacent member 22 so that the folding operation may be elfected with the same kind and direction of pivotal movement for each member 22.

In order that the folded mat may occupy a lesser space for shipment, it may be desirable to arrange the transverse members 22 in the manner shown in Fig. 7 where the hooks 22a on the ends of all members 22 which are in the same row are directed similarly, while those on the transverse members 22 in the alternate rows are directed in the opposite direction. This makes it possible to fold the mat by moving alternate longitudinal members in one longitudinal direction while shifting the intervening longitudinal members 21 in the opposite direction, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 7, thus producing the, folded arrangement illustrated in Fig. 8 which is of lesser length than that illustrated in Fig. 6.

In order to give greater structural strength to the tongues 21b these tongues may have the form 21d shown in Fig. 12 where they have a transverse curvature imparted to them as illustrated particularly in Fig. 13. These tongues function in the same way as the tongues 21b which have previously been described.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, together with modifications of certain features thereof, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in various forms ofconstruction and be employed in various ways without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The method of forming and assembling a beach landing mat made up of parallel longitudinal thin metal strips and parallel transverse thin metal strips, which comprises the steps of forming apertures in said longitudinal strips, forming a pair of tongues on each longitudinal strip on opposite sides of each aperture, deflecting the tongues of each pair in opposite directions from the plane of the attached strip to enlarge the intervening aperture, forming hooks on the ends of said transverse strips, and inserting one of said hooks through each enlarged aperture and into engagement with one of said tongues to retain said hook in pivotal engagement therewith.

2. A metal landing mat adapted to be embedded in the earth adjacent to the surface thereof, comprising a plurality of elongated longitudinal thin metal strips disposed in substantially parallel vertical planes, a plurality of individual transverse thin metal strips disposed in vertical planes between and interconnecting each adjacent pair of said longitudinal strips at spaced apart points therealong, the upper edges of said transverse strips being substantially flush with the upper edges of said longitudinal strips, the transverse strips between adjacent pairs of longitudinal strips being staggered, said longitudinal and transverse strips defining cellular compartments to prevent flow of the earth along the surface portion thereof, a pivotal connection between each end of each transverse strip and the adjacent longitudinal strip to permit said mat to be folded to a compact position before embedding in the earth, said pivotal connection including a hook formed on the end of said transverse strip and extending through an aperture formed in said longitudinal strip, a first. tongue extending from one side of said longitudinal strip and pivotally engaged by said hook, and a second tongue on the other side ofsaid longitudinal strip extending in a direction opposite to said first tongue and contacting said transverse strip for preventing pivotal movement thereof in one direction beyond a position substantially perpendicular to the associated longitudinal strip.

3. A metal landing mat comprising a plurality of elongated longitudinal thin metal strips adapted to be embedded in the earth and disposed in vertical parallel planes, a plurality of transverse thin metal strips disposed between each adjacent pair of said longitudinal strips to interconnect said longitudinal strips and adapted to be embedded in the earth and disposed in vertical planes, said longitudinal strips having apertures formed therein, hooks formed on the ends of said transverse strips next adjacent the sides of said longitudinal strips and extending through said apertures to provide pivotal connections be"- tweenvsaid longitudinal strips and said transverse strips, shoulders formed on said transverse strips adjacent said hooks to limit the passage of said hooks through said apertures, and tongues formed on the opposite sides of said-longitudinal strips to contact said hook and said transverse strips to limit the pivotal movement of said transverse-strips relative'to said longitudinal strips;

4. A metal landing mat comprising a plurality of elongated longitudinal thin metal strips adapted to be embedded in the earth and disposed in vertical parallel planes, a plurality of transverse thin metal strips disposed between each adjacent pair of said longitudinal strips to interconnect said longitudinal strips and adapted to be embedded in the earth and disposed in vertical planes, the vertical extent of said longitudinal strips and said vertical strips being substantially equal, a pivotal connection between the end of each transverse strip and the adjacent longitudinal strip, said pivotal connection including an aperture in the longitudinal strip and a hook formed on the end of the transverse strip next adjacent the side of said longitudinal strip and extending through said aperture, a shoulder formed on said transverse strip adjacent to said hook to limit the passage of said hook through said aperture, a first tongue on said longitudinal strip adjacent to said aperture and extending therefrom to engage said hook for pivotal connection therewith, and a second tongue formed on said longitudinal strip and extending therefrom in the direction opposite to said first tongue to engage said transverse strip when said transverse strip is disposed substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal strip.

5. A metal landing mat as set forth in claim 4, wherein the second tongues are curved transversely to impart rigidity thereto.

6. A metal landing mat as set forth in claim 4, wherein the hook is bent out of the plane of the transverse strip toward one side thereof, the first tongue is struck from the longitudinal strip and extends therefrom in general alignment with said hook to engage said hook on the side thereof toward which said hook is bent, and the second tongue is struck from said longitudinal strip in general alignment with said first tongue and contacts the side of said transverse strip opposite that toward which said hook extends.

7. A landing mat as set forth in claim 4, wherein alternate hooks engaging a longitudinal strip are disposed in opposite directions.

8. A landing mat as set forth in claim 4, wherein the hooks engaging a longitudinal strip are all oriented and extend in the same direction.

9. The method of forming and assembling a beach landing mat made up of parallel longitudinal thin metal strips and parallel transverse thin metal strips, which comprises the steps of forming apertures in said longitudinal strips, forming a pair of tongues on each longitudinal strip on opposite sides of each aperture so that each of said apertures is provided with associate first and second tongues, deflecting the tongues of each pair in opposite directions from the plane of the attached strip to enlarge the intervening aperture, forming hooks on the ends of said transverse strips to provide a corresponding hook for each aperture, inserting each of said hooks through its corresponding aperture and pivotally hooking each hook over the free end of said first tongue associated with that aperture, and then bending said second tongues toward the planes of said longitudinal strips to hold said hooks in permanent pivotal connection with said first tongues.

10. The method of forming and assembling a beach landing mat made up of parallel longitudinal thin metal strips and parallel transverse thin metal strips, which comprises the steps of forming apertures in said longitudinal strips, forming a pair of tongues on each longitudinal strip on opposite sides of each aperture with one tongue of each pair longer than the other so that each aperture is provided with an associate long tongue and a relatively short tongue, deflecting the tongues of each pair in opposite directions from the plane of the attached strip with the longer tongues directed in the same direction from that plane, forming hooks on the ends of said transverse strips to provide a corresponding hook for each aperture, inserting each of said hooks through its cor responding aperture and pivotally hooking each hook over the free end of said short tongue associated with that aperture, and then bending said longer tongues into position to contact said transverse strips when said transverse strips are disposed substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal strips whereby to hold said longitudinal and transverse strips in assembled relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 176,573 Abrams Apr. 25, 1876 732,295 Gustafson June 30, 1903 785,810 Koopmau Mar. 28, 1905 978,994 Dunn Dec. 20, 1910 1,896,957 Hutcheson Feb. 7, 1933 1,905,176 Kieckhefer Apr. 25, 1933 2,404,097 Ruppel July 16, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 11,799 Great Britain May 21, 1906 93,131 Germany June 11, 1923 212,328 Great Britain Mar. 13, 1924 222,973 Great Britain Oct. 13, 1924 352,249 Great Britain July 9, 1931 409,867 Great Britain May 10, 1934 739,073 Germany Sept. 10, 1943 1,010,046 France Mar. 12, 1952 

